Taxi Driver Online

Card payments for Cambridge taxi journeys get approval


Hackney carriage drivers have been given the green light to accept card payments in Cambridge – and to charge an extra fee for doing so.

The city council’s licensing committee allowed cabbies to add 5 per cent to the bill when a passenger pays by debit or credit card.

Permission had been requested by Cambridge City Licensed Taxis, which represents the trade and argued card payments would be more convenient than cash for many passengers.

David Wratten, the organisation’s director, told councillors that demand for cards “is growing and is expected by more customers all the time”.

Some hackney carriage drivers already use mobile card readers to charge passengers for journeys which are not wholly within the city boundary and are not required by law to be on the meter, and this decision brings trips within the city into line.

A report to members by Jas Lally, the head of refuse and environment, said: “Whilst many passengers pay in cash, there is a growing trend towards cashless transactions, as in commerce generally.

“These can be used to overcome difficulties where passengers arrive at destinations without sufficient funds to settle the bill and the potential for conflict to occur.

“Fewer people carry cash on a regular basis in modern times and there is an increased expectation of being able to pay by card for goods and services.”

The extra levy would put 50p on a £10 bill, and £2.50 on a £50 journey.

In London, by comparison, hackney carriage drivers are allowed to charge an additional £1 or 12.5 per cent, whichever is greater.

Cambridge’s private hire companies, including Panther, A1 and CamCab, already add a 5 per cent surcharge for card payments.

Cllr Colin Rosenstiel, who chairs the licensing committee, said members had agreed to the extra fee reluctantly.

He said: “I don’t like to see card payments being discouraged when they are a good thing for society because they reduce the handling of cash, and that has an impact on reducing crime.

“But because hire cars can already charge a surcharge for journeys outside the city, it would have been anomalous not to do it within the city.”

Councillors also agreed to reduced licensing charges for sex shops and lap dancing clubs, following a ruling that local authorities could only use the fees to recover their costs.


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Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.
George Carlin

Other local authorities would be well advised to take note of the last paragraph in that report, especially when it comes to taxi licencing.